


Off Day

by espioc



Category: The Transformers (IDW Generation One), Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Developing Relationship, Friendship, frame fatigue, made up ailment, starscream might too, wheeljack is stuck in bed, wheeljacks got a crush, who knows - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-28
Updated: 2017-11-28
Packaged: 2019-02-08 05:00:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,850
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12857259
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/espioc/pseuds/espioc
Summary: Wheeljack has worked himself too hard, now he's stuck in bed with frame fatigue. In his boredom he calls upon the only person who answers his comm. Starscream is probably a little more eager than he lets on to help the grounded grounder.





	Off Day

**Author's Note:**

> my half of an art trade with the fabulous kindestcactus on tumblr, Enjoy!

Starscream was only half paying attention to his paperwork. Most of it required little to no thought. Can we build this building? Yes, go right ahead. Can we move from the colonies to Cybertron? Unfortunately yes. Can we move from Cybertron to the colonies? Goodness yes. 

There were a few important document in there about starting a school and fixing the sewer system which Starscream set aside to look over more thoroughly later. Otherwise he was left with dead brained decisions to make at all hours of the day. Sometimes he wondered why the datapads even made it to his desk. Sure, he was the ruler of Cybertron, but most people just went ahead and built things anyways. Since when had the citizens really cared for his approval or not? 

Starscream sighed. He supposed it was a good thing. All of the fuss. It gave their government the illusion of order. Things were certainly getting better, albeit slowly and, in some places, reluctantly. Mindless paperwork had never really been Starscream’s forte. 

With aching gears from sitting all day Starscream hauled himself from the desk chair and wandered over to the window. People, from Cybertron and the colonies alike, were building themselves homes and community centers. Some were probably trying to shape Cybertron to match the colony they came from. Give it the feeling of ‘home.’ 

Starscream couldn’t blame them. Had he known any he’d probably try to make Cybertron look like home too. 

Before his thoughts could delve deeper into the melancholy Starscream’s comm pinged. Slowly he reached a finger to his ear, his interest in speaking to anyone non-existent. “Hello,” he drawled. 

“Starscream,” Wheeljack greeted at the end of the line. “You’re not busy are you?”

Starscream’s tense shoulders eased slightly at the sound of Wheeljack’s voice. At least it wasn’t one of the delegates calling for his immediate attention. 

“Not so busy that I can’t talk,” Starscream smirked. Wheeljack was his friend and Starscream was determined to act like it. “What do you need?”

“I sorta just...wanted to talk.”

Starscream wandered back to his desk. “About?” he assumed this was about one of the projects Starscream had handed off to him. That seemed to be the only reason Wheeljack really talked to him these days. It made sense, that didn’t mean Starscream had to like it. 

“Just talk. No one else is answerin’ their comm.”

“Glad to know I’m at the top of your list,” Starscream muttered, picking up the datapad he’d abandoned and looking it over. “Don’t you have something else you could be doing?”

“No. I can’t really move.”

Starscream furrowed his brow, lowering his datapad. “Why not? What did you do to yourself?”

“It’s funny that you automatically assumed I’ve done this to myself.”

“Am I wrong?”

“No, but I’d still appreciate some benefit of the doubt,  _ Lord _ Starscream.”

“I’m sure you would. What did you do to yourself?”

“Nothin’ but overwork. I’m sufferin’ from a nasty bout of frame fatigue. I’m stuck at home until it wears out. Went to recharge last night, woke up and couldn’t stand. I’m gettin’ bored over here all by my lonesome.”

“And so you thought it would be better to call me- the ruler of Cybertron- to keep yourself busy and entertained,” Starscream almost sneered. “What an honor,” he mumbled, flipping through his datapads again. 

Wheeljack didn’t respond immediately. 

“Well you were the very last person I called,” he eventually muttered. “Last person in my contacts, on my mind-”

“Thank you, Wheeljack, I get the picture. Do you have anything in mind to talk about or are you keen to waste my time?”

“I think it’s already obvious that I’m keen to waste your time.”

“Hm. Besides working yourself to the grave, what have you been up to? Gotten anywhere on those projects I’ve assigned to you?”

“I have a prototype built for one, and a design drawn out for the other. The math for it is written out on the board in my lab if you wanna check it out.” 

“I think I’ll live,” Starscream muttered, looking over one of the files on his desk before giving his signature to it. “I trust you to get your work done within a timely manner,” he smirked. “Without blowing yourself up  _ too _ many time.” 

“Why does everybody think the only thing I do is blow myself up? I get serious work done, how-” he stopped short. “Uh- never mind. Listen, I’ll get yer stuff done as soon as I can, but I think I’m going to incapacitated for the next few days. I’m gonna need a break from the office.”

Starscream gave an overdramatic sigh. “Fine. If you must, take all the time you need,” he pointedly gestured his pen. “But I expect you to be back on your feet and ready to work before next week.” 

“You’re only giving me four days?”

Starscream rolled his head. “I  _ might  _ be convinced to give you more down time. If I can find room in my schedule to lose my head scientist.” 

“This would take less time if I could move and take care of myself. Haven’t you ever suffered from frame fatigue?”

Starscream thought back, trying to remember. Injured almost beyond repair and laying in a berth for a while, now that was something he had done. Regular run of the mill Frame Fatigue was something he could not recall ever experiencing. Then again Cold Constructed bots were much less susceptible to it. Not to mention the ever present war hanging on their tails. No one could afford something as simple and idiotic as “frame fatigue.” things like that got one killed. 

Peace time, though, left more room for vulnerability. For some, at least. People like Wheeljack who had almost no enemies at this point besides some bitter Decepticons with an Autobot grudge. 

“I can’t say I have,” Starscream muttered. He was suddenly curious. “What is it like?”

“Uh, well...your limbs become heavy, your joints ache, you can’t transform. Systems sort of shut down, energy is reserved so even if ya could move you can’t do it very fast. Sometimes ya get a nasty headache. I ain’t got that, but some do. It’s tough because I gotta keep refueling, but I can hardly move so I’m not really capable of doin’ that. It’s a whole load’a scrap.” 

“It sounds like it.”

“I’ve been recharging for most of the day. Just woke up and was feelin’ kinda lonely so I called around.”

Starscream scoffed. “Isn’t there a medic you can call, or some- thing you can take?”

“There is but I can’t get to it.”

Starscream rolled his eyes, shutting off the datapad. “I have to do everything around here, don’t I?”

“What?”

“I’m coming over there.”

“What?”

Starscream scoffed. “You need medicine, don’t you?”

“Well, yeah, but you don’t have to come over.”

“What? You prefer laying there miserable and alone without any relief, as opposed to me stopping by your house and dropping off something that’ll make you feel better?”

Wheeljack took a moment to think about it. “That’s a loaded question.”

“You’re being ridiculous. I won’t even touch anything,” Starscream offered. “Just as long as my head scientist is back on his feet by the time next week rolls around.”

Wheeljack seemed to sigh. “Alright, if you insist,” he gave in. “I guess I’ll- see ya soon then.”

Starscream gathered up his datapads and stuffed them in his subspace. May as well get some work done after taking care of this mess. Starscream had no interest in returning to the office once he was finished with this. He cut Wheeljack loose and strutted down to Flatline’s med bay. 

“I need something for frame fatigue,” Starscream dictated immediately.

Flatline took a second to look him over. “You look fine to me.”

“It’s not for me, it’s for Wheeljack. He’s stuck at home.”

“Ah. So that’s why he called me earlier.”

“You ignored him?”

“I’d assumed he’d blow his hand off again. Which is something that can wait, I was busy.” 

Starscream pinched the bridge of his nose. “Primus help me,” he muttered. “Will you just give me something to give him?” he spat. “So I can be on my way.” 

Flatline sighed as if this were a hassle for him. “Yes, Lord Starscream,” he drawled, wandering over to a drawer. He sifted through something for a moment before drawing out a small glass bottle with a dripper for it’s top. “It’s a bit primitive looking,” he said, coming back over. “But it should help Wheeljack’s healing protocols and get him out of bed,” he said, presenting the bottle to Starscream. “Two drops in his energon every three hours and he’ll be good as he ever was.”

“Who’s supposed to do that? he can’t move, can’t you give him something for that?” 

“Are you the doctor?”

Starscream scowled and snatched the bottle out of the medics hand. After staring at it for a moment he smirked. “I’ll just ask Fixit, then. Maybe he’ll have something to give me,” Starscream turned on a heel towards the door and began slowly taking hi strides towards it. 

“Wait a minute,” Flatline called. Starscream glanced over his shoulder. Flatline was twiddling his thumb over his fingers. “I may have something,” he muttered, then walking back over to the drawer he’d gone to before. Seeming to find nothing he moved on. “Ah-hah,” he vented, pulling something out of the second drawer. Almost stomping he made his way back over to Starscream and fiercely presented to him a long metal tube with a blue cap. “Flip the cap, inject into the arm. It should get him partially walking in a day. With the help of the medicine he should be up and about like normal in three days. Injection first, then he can mix his energon himself.”

Starscream eyes the syringe warily. “This isn’t some experimental drug you’ve been working on, it is?”

Flatline shook his head. “Tested and used, millions of times over.”

“Hm,” Starscream swiped the tube from the medics hand and tucked it into his subspace. “Thank you Flatline, for doing your job,” he smiled condescendingly. Even without a face Starscream could tell Flatline was frowning at him. 

“Of course- Lord Starscream,” he almost growled as Starscream made his way out. Starscream merely smirked. 

 

* * *

 

Wheeljack didn’t want Starscream to come over. It wasn’t as though he didn’t trust Starscream he just...no, he didn’t trust Starscream. To be fair it had been a couple years since The Ruler of Cybertron had done anything notably bad (to Wheeljack’s knowledge) but Starscream had a tendency to be bitter. That, tagged on to his vanity and need to be in control wasn’t making Wheeljack feel any better. Starscream wasn’t the most caring bot Wheeljack had ever met. Far from it in fact. 

Though, he had still dragged Wheeljack off the battlefield and saved him with a CR chamber. So there must be a softness in there somewhere. Or at least a selfishness that lead him to do kind things for others. Then again, Starscream did seem to genuinely consider Wheeljack to be his friend, to the point where he was willing to give up what he was best at when facing Wheeljack. 

So, Wheeljack could tolerate the Seeker bringing him some medicine. It could almost be considered kind if Wheeljack hadn’t known that it was fueled by Starscream’s want and need to have Wheeljack back in the lab. It wasn’t as though Starscream was going to stay or anything. In and out, right? 

Hopefully. 

It was almost a half hour before Starscream arrived. He announced his presence with a slam of the door. “Wheeljack,” he called into the apartment. 

“In here!” Wheeljack called back from his room. Starscream wandered in. “You look horrible,” he commented immediately, turning on the light. Wheeljack shielded his face from the sudden light before his sore optics could adjust. “Nice to see you too.”

“Well I’m not going to lie to you,” Starscream dictated, pulling something out of his subspace. It looked like a metal tube. Starscream popped the top off with his thumb. Without warning he jabbed the thing into Wheeljack’s arm. Wheeljack jumped at the sudden pain. “Ooow,” he complained, dying down from the shock. “What the hell was that!?”

After the tube was emptied into Wheeljack’s system’s Starscream pulled it out and disposed if it. “Flatline says it should give you back partial mobility. That way you can take care of yourself, at least enough to give yourself this,” he wiggled the bottle of medicine at Wheeljack. 

“Did he say how long it would take to work?”

“He neglected to give me any details,” Starscream said, unscrewing the top of the bottle and using the dripper to deliver two drops into the cube of energon beside Wheeljack’s bed. Once that was done he reinserted the dropper and placed the bottle on the table so Wheeljack could reach it. “Two drops every three hours,” Starscream instructed. “With energon.” 

“Thanks.”

“My pleasure.”

A silence fell over the room. Starscream shifted from pede to pede. He cleared his intake. “I’m going to stay here until that stuff starts working,” he finally said. “Just to make sure you don’t kill yourself getting out of bed.”

“I’m sure I’ll be fine. Haven’t killed myself yet.”

“Yes, that I am genuinely surprised by. Considering your reputation. Humor me, it’ll make me feel better.”

“Alright fine. Guess I can’t tell the Ruler of Cybertron what to do.” 

Again they stood in silence. Both tried not to look at eachother. Starscream crossed his arms and was tempted to tap his foot but resisted. “Can you move yet?” he asked after a couple of minutes, glancing back at Wheeljack. 

Wheeljack slowly moved his arms to his sides and tried to shove himself up a little more. It didn’t take long for his arms to buckle beneath him. “Not more than before,”

Starscream huffed. “Primus, how long is this going to take?” he muttered. 

Wheeljack wanted to shrug but he couldn’t. Starscream looked down at him, brow furrowed. “How have you been getting yourself energon this entire time?”

“Pure, unbridled, determination. And that’s the only cube I’ve had all day.” 

Starscream pinched his brow. “Oh that’s fantastic. I really do have to do everything around here, don’t I?” he stomped out of the room. Wheeljack watched him go, almost worried the seeker was about to tear apart his entire house. Starscream wasn’t making much noise, which just concerned Wheeljack even more.

“Starscream?” he called. “What’er you doing?”

Starscream returned a second later with an energon cube in one hand and a chair in the other. “I’m just getting you a cube,” he said, slightly annoyed. “I’m not going to tear your house down,” he grumbled, setting down the chair and taking a seat in it. He placed the new cube beside the old and took the half empty one to give to Wheeljack. “Drink,” he demanded. 

Slowly Wheeljack managed to lift his hand enough to take the cube. It took longer for him to lift it to his mask, and even longer for his mask to retract fully so he could drink it. Starscream stared it him dumbly. “You have a mouth?” he asked, seemingly shocked. 

“Yeah. I got it a little while back. Nice change, ya know?”

“I wouldn’t know.”

Wheeljack assumed Starscream would be able to relate to aesthetic change, of all things, considering how much he changed his frame. Wheeljack thought it best not to comment. The last thing he needed was the seeker screeching at him. 

“Is this what you’ve been doing all day?” Starscream asked, snapping Wheeljack from his thoughts. “Just laying here? You haven’t even had anything to read?”

“Nope. Just here. All day...doing nothing. I fall asleep on and off.”

“Hm. No wonder you wanted someone to talk to. You must be bored out of your processor.”

Again Wheeljack wanted to shrug but found that he couldn’t. “It’s not too bad. I’ve seen worse.” 

“I’m sure you have, considering,” Starscream stood from the chair and wandered over to the bookshelf where Wheeljack was stocked with a variety of datapads. 

“What’re you doin’ now?” Wheeljack asked from the bed, staring on as Starscream carefully flipped through the titles. “I’m looking for something for you to read so you don’t have to force yourself to talk to me while I’m here.” 

“That’s fine, I don’t need one.”

“I insist,” Starscream deadpanned, drawing a datapad from the shelf. He mosied back over to the berth and sat down. “Here, I brought one of those human novels,” he said, presenting the datapad. “You need something to keep your processor active. I didn’t come here so you could just fall back asleep.”

Wheeljack was very tempted to sigh. Gradually he lifted his servo and took the datapad with a reluctant. “Thanks.” it had already turned on, so his only job was to turn the page, fortunately. Knowing Starscream wouldn’t let it go, and having nothing better to do he gave in and started reading. At the same time Starscream sat back in his chair and started going over his own datapad. 

He must’ve forgotten what he originally came for because Starscream ended up sitting there for an hour before asking Wheeljack whether or not he could move yet. 

“Uh, not yet,” Wheeljack determined after trying to sit up.

“Try moving your legs.”

Wheeljack lifted his knees. “Yeah, they’re feelin’ a little better.” 

“Oh fantastic,” Starscream said half sarcastically. “Because that’s helpful when you can’t move your upper body.”

“It’s fine. If you want to go, you can go, I won’t be offended.”

“I’m not afraid of offending you, I told you, I don’t want you to hurt yourself,” Starscream turned his attention back to his datapad. “Plus this is what friends do, isn’t it? Stay with them when they’re sick?”

Wheeljack wasn’t sure how to answer that. Technically the answer was yes, and he could appreciate the effort on Starscream’s part to be a good friend. Honestly Wheeljack just didn’t want to let the bot down. Seeing Starscream’s caring side was a rare thing Wheeljack wanted to observe. 

They continued reading their datapads. After the second hour Wheeljack found himself dozing and unable to keep his head up. He wasn’t sure when he fell asleep, but he woke with a start when something touched his arm. It took longer for his eyes to reboot, but when they did Wheeljack found himself face to face with a cube of energon. 

“Drink,” Starscream demanded. 

With everything he had in him Wheeljack lifted a hand and took the cube. He sipped it gradually, waiting for the energy to find him before he could move enough to tip the cup at his lips. Starscream glanced at him every once in a while, as if making sure he was still doing as he was told. When Wheeljack finally finished off the cube, about a half hour later, Starscream took it from his hand and left to replace it. 

It almost felt nice, being taken care of. Even if it was by Starscream. At least Wheeljack wasn’t alone anymore. 

Starscream returned with the new cube. “Flatline said to use the drops for three days. Hopefully the magic medicine will be working by tomorrow and I can go home.”

“You plan on staying that long?”

“I plan on staying until it works.”

Nobody said anything after that, not for a while. Wheeljack continued to stare blankly at the datapad that had been given to him. He was fully awake and daydreaming, thinking about his next project and those that Starscream had given him. Wheeljack had been, for the most part, stuck in his lab. Most of the time he just stayed the night there, either falling asleep across a work table or on the cot he kept in the corner. Fortunately the night before last he’d decided to go home. It wouldn’t have been as comfortable a fatigue had he fallen asleep hunched over his workbench. Then again someone probably would have discovered him quicker. 

Wheeljack’s thoughts wandered to Starscream. The seeker was being oddly “caring” if one could call it that. Still his overbearing and forceful self, but this time with the intent of care. Wheeljack found himself looking at the seeker. Starscream’s concentration was set on his work. His nose scrunched up a little as he read a datapad closely. He almost looked angry. The again, he always looked angry. 

“If we started an academy would you want to teach at it?” Starscream asked, attention not wavering from the datapad. 

Wheeljack didn’t comprehend the question at first, still lost in his thoughts. “What?”

“An Academy, would you teach at it?”

“Teach? No, I’m a horrible teacher.”

“Hm,” Starscream scribbled something onto the datapad. “Do you think Jetfire would want to teach at it?”

“I dunno, I can’t speak for Jetfire.” 

“I bet he would, he’s the teaching type,” he scribbled something else down.

“What is this for?”

“It’s been proposed we start building schools. I’m considering rebuilding the Academy of Science and Technology. It was one of Cybertron’s most prominent institutions.” 

“I know, I went there. Briefly.” 

“So did I,” Starscream muttered past the pen he bit between his dentia. “Ratchet is gone, Windblade says she has some candidates. Hm. Maybe I could hold some interviews.”

“You went to the Iacon Science Academy?”

“Yes, I just said that,” Starscream scribbled something else down. 

“How did you get in, I mean- just...considering,” Wheeljack trailed off, knowing that what he was saying was probably a little rude. It was accurate, though. The Iaconian Academy’s weren’t the most welcoming place for a Cold Constructed flight frame. 

“I attended for about a month before I was found out. I lied to get in. After all, that’s what I do best, isn’t it?”

“You passed all the entrance exams?”

Starscream scoffed, finally looking at Wheeljack. “Yes, I’m not that dumb. Who do you think I am?”

“You just- never seemed like the science type.”

Starscream grunted. “Of course I don’t,” he spat, looking back to the datpad. 

“I didn’t mean it like that.” 

Starscream didn’t respond. Eventually he said. “Can you think of anyone else we know who might want to teach?”

“What about you?” Wheeljack proposed, trying to make up for past implications. 

“Absolutely not,” he scribbled something down. “That part of my life is dead and gone, and it’s going to stay that way. I can barely manage differential equations any more,” he bit the end of his pen, thinking. “What about Perceptor?”

“He’s on the Lost Light too.”

“Of course, all of the good scientists are gone.”

“Aren’t there any Decepticon scientists you can pick from?”

“None that I trust,” Starscream looked at him again. “Would you trust a Decepticon scientist to teach a class full of young minds?” 

Wheeljack shrugged. Actually shrugged. “I dunno, depends on what you call a Decepticon I guess. Someone who used to be one, or someone who still calls themselves one.”

“What’s the difference?”

“You tell me.”

Starscream huffed. “Don’t get all philosophical on me. A Decepticon is a Decepticon is a Decepticon. They’re idiots, and they can’t let go of the past. Or they’re delusional and living _ in  _ the past, like Soundwave and his covenant.” 

“See, now you just contradicted yourself.” 

“No I didn’t.”

“Yes you did, you talk about them like you weren’t one.”

“I am  _ not _ a Decepticon.”

“But you’re not a neutral, and you’re not an Autobot, so what are you?”

Starscream slammed the datapad in his lap. “I’m the Ruler of Cybertron!”  

Wheeljack was smart enough to see that he’d struck a nerve. “I didn’t mean to make you mad,” he said calmly. “I’m just trying to have a conversation.” 

“Well, you’re just doing a fantastic job at that, aren’t you?” Starscream deadpanned, looking back to his datapad. “All these labels are stupid. Neutral, Decepticon, Autobot. It’s been almost five years, who cares?” 

“Four million years of war tends to stick with a person. I still consider myself an Autobot. May not agree with everything they do, but I don't have to.” 

Starscream sighed. “didn't I just say I didn't want to get all philosophical?” 

“I'm just looking for something to talk about.” 

“We can talk about the new academy. I'm still looking for Staff. Windblade is on my wings about giving it an art program, but I haven’t met an “artistic” bot in over four million years.”

“What about Thundercracker? He’s an artsy type isn’t he?”

Starscream scoffed. “If you can call any of his Screenplays “art” Sure, I suppose he’s an artist. But being an artist doesn’t automatically make you a teacher.”

“Then why the hell did you ask me to be one?”

“Because you’re actually good at what you do. He is not.” Starscream retreated inward to check his chronometer. “It’s almost been three hours,” he dictated. 

Wheeljack checked his own, and was surprised to see that Starscream was right. “Huh. That went fast.”

“That’s what happens when you daydream,” Starscream said, delivering two drops of substance into Wheeljack’s cube. “Can you move yet?”

Wheeljack sat up a little more. “A little more than before, yeah.”

“Wonderful, that means I get to go home soon.”

“I thought you said you were gonna go home when I could take care of myself,” said Wheeljack, going for the cube on the bedside table. He was certainly moving much faster. Much of the ware was gone, too, and it didn’t hurt as much when he moved. Wheeljack grabbed the cube from the table “Still an ach in my joints, but my limbs don’t feel heavy anymore.” 

“I’m not leaving until you can stand on your own two feet.” 

Wheeljack shrugged. “If you insist,” he started sipping at the cube, the sips less gradual than before. It felt good being able to move again. 

“I’m glad to see it’s finally working,” Starscream muttered, as if trying not to sound too happy for his friend. 

When Wheeljack finished off the cube he shifted so he we sitting on the end of the bed. “I’m gonna try and get myself another,” trying to stand was a slow process. Wheeljack found Starscream’s hand gently resting on his arm, probably in case he fell. Wheeljack managed to get himself to his feet, but wobbly knees sent him sitting back down in an instant. “Looks like I’m not quite there."

Without a word Starscream stood up and wandered out of the room again. He returned with a fresh cube of energon. “You said your joint were aching?” he said, placing it down. Wheeljack merely nodded, hauling his legs back onto the berth. 

“I know how to deal with that. Do you have any organic material?”

“What, like cloth and stuff? Or plants?”

“Cloth.”

“Uh, I’ve got some rags in the wash racks I think.” 

Starscream wandered into the wash racks. Apparently telling Wheeljack was he was doing  _ ever  _ was off the table. Wheeljack heard the solvent turn on and run for a few minutes. Starscream emerged from the wash racks soon after it stopped. He sat back in his chair, a pile of wet wash cloths in his lap. “Where does it hurt the most?” he asked, pouring a bit of energon from Wheeljack’s cube onto the first rag. 

“Um...my knees,” Wheeljack answered slowly, curious as to what Starscream was going to do.

Starscream prompted Wheeljack to lift his knee slightly and wrapped one of the cloths around it. He then proceeded to pull a roll of medical tape out of his subspace and wrap it around the rag tight so everything stayed in place. The slight pressure of the bind and the warmth of the solvent took away most of the ach immediately. “Damn,” Wheeljack sighed. “where in the world did you learn that?” 

“I figured it out,” Starscream smirked, wrapping the second knee. “I’ve spent a lot of time with aching joints. It happens when you can’t fly for a while.” 

Wheeljack’s attention suddenly turned to Starscream’s wings. “Sometimes I forget you’re a jet.” he admitted dumbly. 

Starscream furrowed a brow at him. “You  _ forget _ I’m a jet? You have to be joking.”

“Nope. Honest to Primus, I forget what we turn into sometimes.”

Starscream could only stare for a moment before shaking his head and going back to what he was doing. “You’re ridiculous.”

“Come on. You can’t tell me you  _ never _ forget what someone turns into.”  

“Maybe if they keep changing their frame type, like Megatron did, but for someone who’s turned into the same thing for four  _ million _ years, no I can’t say I have. Your shotty memory probably comes from the amount of times you've blown yourself up.” 

“In my defense I haven't blown myself up recently.” 

“Oh, well that changes everything, doesn’t it?” 

After finishing up with the knees Starscream demanded Wheeljack’s arm. Wheeljack watched as Starscream carefully stretched the warm pad over the aching joint and vigorously wrapped the tape around it with a skill that suggested he’d done this before. Wheeljack noticed the way Starscream’s talons never graced his plating. Only the gentle tips of servos laid the cover and wrapped the tape. Starscream’s brow remained partly furrowed in concentration. When he finished wrapping he carefully laid the tape with his palm, rubbing it flat into itself to it wouldn’t go anywhere. Starscream walked around to the other side of the berth and knelt down so he could wrap the other joint. 

Wheeljack wondered how Starscream did it. How he managed to be so harsh and sharp and cutting, yet attentive and even gentle while taking care of another. He was not even gentle in taking care of himself. If he ever took care of himself. 

“What are you staring at?” Starscream asked. Wheeljack found the seeker stare up at him with bright red optics. He didn’t look as angry as he usually did. “Is there something on my face?”

“What? No- I’m just...Dozing off- thinking. I’m daydreaming.”

Starscream furrowed a brow. “Those are three different things.” 

“Frame Fatigue is messin’ with my head, just keep doin’ what you’re doin’.” 

Starscream stared at him another moment before puffing a ‘hm’ and getting on with wrapping up the joint. “There,” he sighed, snapping the tape from the roll. “You’re all set. You probably shouldn’t move for a while though,” Starscream gave an overdramatic sigh as he stood up. “Which mean’s I’ll just have to stay with you longer. Fantastic,” he drawled, walking around the berth and slumping back into his chair. “Just my luck.”

“Come on,” Wheeljack shrugged, lifting his palms towards the sky. “It’s not that bad.”

“I should be saying that to you, shouldn’t I? You’re the one who didn’t want me to come over.”

“Yeah, but I honestly didn’t expect you to stay this long. You’re the one who’s been complainin’ the entire time.”

Starscream scoffed, throwing his nose in the air as he turned his head to the side. “I don’t know what you expected, you’ve been practically incapacitated,” Starscream leaned forward, smirk on his face as he leaned his head on a fist, elbow dug into his knee. “What kind of ruler would I be if I let one of my best friends suffer alone.”

Wheeljack laughed. “Best friend, I wouldn’t go that far.”

Starscream’s smirk immediately fell. For a split second Wheeljack could have sworn that his eyes dimmed and his face sunk. Mouth hung open a little, and eyes popped wide with sullen surprise. It was only a split second he held the expression, though. If Wheeljack weren’t looking he probably would have missed it. Starscream forced his smirk. “Of course, my mistake. We’re only friends on Chosen One Day, right?” 

Wheeljack forced a smile, wanting to keep under the veil of lightness Starscream was trying to throw over them. “Just a bit of a joke,” he muttered. 

They sat in silence for a moment, both having run out of things to say. Starscream shifted his pedes on the floor. “How is the novel I picked for you?” he asked eventually, tired of the silence. Wheeljack silently thanked him for that. “It was- good. I’ve read it before. It’s interesting. Boring in some places, and it can be a hard read when english ain’t exactly your first language. Translation isn’t always the best, but it’s fine nonetheless.” 

“What was it called again? Vanity and Preconception?”

“Pride and Prejudice. It’s a good read, you might enjoy it,” he offered the datapad but Starscream put up a hand of refusal. 

“I’ll live without the organics tale of woe,” he took the datapad. “I will return this to the shelf, though.”

As Starscream walked to the shelf he asked. “Do you think you can stand on your own two pedes yet?”

“I thought you said I shouldn’t move.”

“I’m not asking you to run a mile,” Starscream droned, turning away from the shelf. “I’m asking you to stand up. Just for a second.”

“Alright,” Wheeljack grunted, already shifting himself off the berth. Carefully he scooted himself off the berth and placed himself on his pedes. Gradually he applied weight and managed to get to his own two feet. The ach returned slightly with the weight, but when Wheeljack went for a step he didn’t topple over. His frame didn’t feel nearly as heavy, but still weighed him down a bit. Pedes dragged, but didn’t catch or seize up. 

“I think I can walk now.”

“Do you think you can make it to the living room?”

“Yeah, probably.”

Slowly Wheeljack began the journey to the living room. Starscream came to walk beside him, taking one or two steps to match Wheeljack’s slow going many. “Primus this is slow,” The Seeker muttered, keeping a close eye on Wheeljack as they mosied into the living room. 

“Give me a break, I’ve been layin’ in bed sick all day.”

“You’re not “sick” you’re frame has just given up on you.”

“That’s- That’s sick! It’s like that thing humans have, like a fever.”

“It’s not a like a fever at all. Your tanks aren’t churning, you’re still coherent, you feel fine. The only thing wrong is the muscles keeping you up.” 

Wheeljack rolled his eyes. Soon enough they reached the couch where Wheeljack’s tired frame practically threw him down. “Made it,” he proclaimed, putting his hands out. “You can go home now.”

“Hm. fat chance. I’m not leaving until you at least take your next round of medicine.” 

“Ooof course you aren’t.”

Starscream dropped himself beside Wheeljack and flipped on the vid-screen. There wasn’t much on besides news and cheap entertainment. There were some programs coming in from the colonies, but nothing notable or interesting enough for Starscream to care. Every once in awhile, as he flipped endlessly through the channels, Wheeljack would glance at him. He wondered if Starscream would ever stop. 

“Are ya gonna pick somethin’?” Wheeljack eventually asked, letting his hand rise and fall from his thigh. 

“I’m looking,” Starscream groused, flipping faster. Eventually he gave up. “Gah,” he tossed the remote in the air. “You pick, I’m going to get your stuff.” 

Wheeljack couldn’t manage to catch the remote, but fumbled it to the floor as Starscream stood up. Wheeljack found something suitable to watch in the ten seconds it took for Starscream to retrieve the energon cube from beside the bed. 

“You’ve got an hour and a half,” Starscream announced as he re-entered the room. He set the cube and bottle on the table as he shimmied past Wheeljack’s legs to sit down. “What did you pick?”

“Nothin’ you’d be interested in.” 

“Sounds great.” 

Starscream eased himself into his seat and drew a datapad from his subspace. “We never finished discussing the academy,” he said, pulling out his light pen. “How much would I have to pay you to be a teacher?”

“Not enough for me to be able to teach anything.”

“Come on, you can’t be that bad.”

“I blow myself up every other week.”

“Now who’s contradicting himself?”  

“What I’m saying is, I learn through doing. I don’t know how to tell people what I do and explain to them how it’s done. I’m an inventor, I’m always learning and looking, and I don’t got the time or motivation to teach a whole class of protoforms about what I do.”

Starscream lowered the datapad. He appeared to be thinking. Sharp gaze rested with consideration on the the table. “It wouldn’t be protoforms,” he said eventually. “Not exclusively. It would be colonists, and war frames, and CC’s who never got an education. Many bots who learn more through seeing than doing. All of those MTO’s you Autobots spit out during the war. The Iaconian Academy of Science and Technology isn’t going to be some prestigious school any more for silver spoon eating idiots,” he sneered at the end briefly. It fell a second later. “You would be the perfect teacher for the school I have in mind,” Starscream almost smiled. “I think you’d be fun.”

Wheeljack listened. Starscream spoke in the most candid tone Wheeljack had ever heard. For a moment he considered believing it. But no matter how genuine Starscream seemed, he was still Starscream. 

“I’ll consider it,” Wheeljack eventually said. Frankly, it did sound a little fun. Blowing himself up in front of an entire classroom. What a dream. “But it’ll be a while until you get it up and running, right?”

“Of course, we’ve barely got the cities rebuilt. But you know me, I like to plan ahead.”

“Makes sense. Let me know when you get it all set up, and I’ll let you know if I’m up for it.” 

“You’re at the top of my list.” 

For the next hour and a half they sat in silence. Starscream continued to do his work while Wheeljack dozed off to whatever was on the vid-screen. Again Wheeljack was awoken by a hand on his arms and greeted by a cube in his face. 

“Drink,” Starscream demanded blunlty. This time Wheeljack was much faster to snatch the cube and down the contents, emptying it in one go. “Ta-dah,” he sing songed, wiggling to cup. Starscream snatched it from his hand and disposed of it before grabbing Wheeljack another. Wheeljack watched Starscream wandered over to the energon dispenser. The Seeker’s large wings hiked slightly against his back as Starscream strutted to the dispenser. Wheeljack couldn’t help but think of it as a strut. Starscream always managed to take his journeys with confidence in his step. Shoulders remained back and spine was straight. His posture was impeccable.

Wheeljack found his gaze wondering as Starscream filled a cube. From wrings, to spinal strut, to- 

Wheeljack forced his gaze away and cleared his intake. Starscream turned back around and wandered over with two full cubes. 

“I thought you were leaving after I took my medicine,” Wheeljack dictated after being handed his cube. 

“I like this show,” Starscream explained, sitting back down. “And the news comes on after this. It’s only another hour, I’ll leave when it’s over.”

Wheeljack sighed. “Alright,” he grumbled into the edge of his cube.  

Despite drinking two cubes Wheeljack found himself struggling to keep his eyes open. When the news started Wheeljack's vision was beginning to blur. His head fell back, but he continued to prop it back up until he just couldn’t any more. He gave into sleep twenty minutes after his second cube. 

 

* * *

 

Wheeljack slowly awoke. Playing on the vid-screen was some human show they broadcast late at night when everyone was supposed to be recharging. Wheeljack let his attention fall to that for a second before taking the time to look around the otherwise dark room. The first thing he noticed with the seeker curled up beside him on the couch. 

Starscream rested in somewhat of a fetal position. He was facing the back of the couch so his wings spread out across the table. Every once in a while they twitched, and Starscream shifted. Even in his sleep Starscream scowled. Though it didn’t look like an angry scowl, as much as one born of fear or concern. Wheeljack was tempted to wake him up. He put a hand on the Seeker’s leg and shook it a little. 

“Starscream,” he whispered. “Starscream,” he called a little louder. 

Starscream stirred, but only enough to swat the hand on his leg away. “Don’t touch me,” he grumbled into the couch, lazily waving at Wheeljack’s hand. 

“You were supposed to go home,” Wheeljack remained him. 

Starscream groaned something and buried his face in the couch. “I'll leave when I'm done,” he muttered into the crook of the couch. 

Wheeljack sighed and let his head fall back. There was no moving the groggy sleepy seeker. 

 

* * *

 

The next time Wheeljack awoke it was morning. The lights in the apartment were dimmed but on, allowing the light from the window to illuminate the room. Wheeljack looked around. Starscream was gone from his side. For a second Wheeljack through the seeker had left. It was only when a full cube was shoved in his face that Wheeljack realized he hadn't. 

“Drink,” Starscream demanded from behind the couch. Wheeljack's heavy arm reached up slowly and swiped the cube from Starscream's sharp digits.

“Haven’t you gone home yet?” Wheeljack pressed before downing the cube in his hand. Starscream put his hands on Wheeljack’s shoulders and leaned over to speak in his audio-receptor. “Well, I couldn’t leave before figuring out whether you’d be able to move in the morning, now could I?”

“No, you could have. You just didn’t,” Wheeljack watched as Starscream strolled around to his side of the couch and collected the cube from Wheeljack’s hand, not even pausing before heading back to the energon dispenser. 

“Sure, I could have,” Starscream shrugged at the machine. “But I didn’t,” he smirked, turning around and moseying back over to the couch. “You missed almost three doses,” he said, handing Wheeljack the energon. “We need to make up for lost time.” 

Wheeljack sighed, taking his cube into two hands. For a moment he stared into the purple contents, looking at the blue reflection of his eyes in the liquid. At the same time Starscream took a seat beside him and picked up the datapad which had been sitting on the coffee table. He drew the pen from his subspace and got to work. 

Wheeljack watched as Starscream bit the tip of his pen lightly between his dentia. Sharp nubs poked out a little from behind his lip. There was something oddly charming about the way Starscream looked when he was concentrating. Sometimes his bright optics would dim, and his brow would furrow in what Wheeljack could only assume was thought. His nose scrunched up a little when working on a problem without an easy fix. The light pen never got away unscathed. Sometimes Starscream would wag it between his teeth as if trying to bite it off, but never gripping it so hard that it came to that. There were times, when Starscream was really lost in his own head, when his face came so close to the page that the tip of his nose just barely brushed it. 

Wheeljack had worked closely with Starscream before, albeit briefly. There were occasions in which Starscream would stop by the lab and ask how things were going. In the meantime Starscream would sit and start doing his own work every once in a while, if he could not be deigned to head back to his own office. Those instances were few and far between, but they had occurred nonetheless. And Wheeljack remembered watching in those times, too, the Seeker work. Lost in his own head Starscream didn’t seem to mind the grounder staring. 

Wheeljack noticed much more now that he was so close. There were little wing twitches. Just a flick when Starscream bit down on that pen. Once the problem was solved his expression would ease and his hiked wings eased with it as he scribbled a signature, or reformed a document. 

Wheeljack liked watching Starscream work. It almost assured him that the ruler of Cybertron actually cared about what he was doing, and put the effort into making it his best. 

“What are you staring at?” Starscream asked, breaking Wheeljack from his thoughts. Wheeljack had to take a second to remember what words were before answering. “Nothin’” he said quickly. “Just- uh- ya know, daydreaming. Just staring whatever.”

After a second Starscream ‘tsked’ rolling his eyes back to his paperwork. “You’re a horrible liar.” 

“What? What do you think I’m staring at?”

Starscream nearly whipped his head to look at Wheeljack. “You’re staring at me,”he determined, putting a hand to his chest. “Obviously,” he drawled, throwing his head back around to look at the datapad in his hand. 

Wheeljack huffed as if offended. “Why would I be lookin’ at you?” 

Starscream shrugged with a mutter reminiscent of ‘I don’t know.’ 

Wheeljack crossed his arms. “I ain’t starin’ at you,” he pouted, as if trying to convince himself of that fact. 

“Whatever you say,” Starscream muttered back before replacing the pen in his mouth. It came out a second later. “When do you suppose the Lost Light will return from it’s voyage?”

Wheeljack shrugged. “I don’t know, probably not for a while. Rodimus isn’t the best at keepin’ on track all of the time.”

“Do you think he’d ever just give up?”

“Probably not. Ain’t the type.”

“Hm, I guess that’s one thing we have in common,” Starscream grumbled to himself, just barely loud enough for Wheeljack to hear. Wheeljack wasn’t sure how serious the comment was. 

Then again Starscream had gone millions of years trying to overthrow Megatron, despite all of the beatings, failures, and defeat. If that wasn’t determination Wheeljack didn’t know what was. It could have always been stupidity, but still, Starscream sat at the top of the world while Megatron was being hauled around by the infamous space boat. So really it was all relative. 

“You can take those off now,” Starscream interrupted Wheeljack’s train of thought, pointing to something with the light pen. Wheeljack followed the tip of the pen and found it was pointing at the wraps around his knees. “Oh,” he’d completely forgotten about that. Wheeljack sluggishly moved to unwrap the tap. It was a long process, unwrapping with one hand and gathering with the other. The ach had returned, though not in full force. This time it affected more his smaller joints in the wrist and hand area. Once one knee was done he moved to the other, but paused when he felt something touch his elbow. 

He found Starscream, frozen as he clutched the other bandage, optics widened a bit as Wheeljack turned to look at him. “I was going to help you,” Starscream clarified. “You’re going excruciatingly slow, it’s hard to watch.” 

Wheeljack didn’t say anything. Instead he turned back to what he was doing. As did Starscream. 

Once finished with the other knee Wheeljack leaned back to start dealing with his elbow. His hands were intercepted by Starscream. “I got it,” he said, moving Wheeljack’s hand aside and leaning over his to reach the other wrapped joint. Wheeljack sat back, pressing himself slightly into the couch so Starscream wasn’t pressed against him as much as he would be. Eventually Wheeljack gave into his limp struts and let himself sit freely. In this position his front was pressed against Starscream’s side, and their hips came very close to touching. At one point Starscream frustratingly tugged Wheeljack’s arms closer to himself and leaned further over Wheeljack’s lap to finish removing the bandage. 

Wheeljack could only stared, eyes bright, brow lifted he tried to keep the heat from rising in his cheeks. For a moment he forgot that he had a mouth which was not covered by his mask. The plate slipped back, shutting away Wheeljack’s purple cheeks from view. 

This was strange, why did he feel like this? If anything he should be terrified, not bashful. This was Starscream. Starscream of all bots! The fierce, harsh, mean, dangerous, manipulative seeker, former second to Megatron. 

Of course, now he was the fierce, mean, cunning, half responsible, almost caring Ruler of Cybertron who would tear down the earth and sky before Cybertron entered another war. Not to mention that frame- 

“Oh frag,” Wheeljack muttered to himself. At the sound Starscream looked up at him. “Did you say something?” he asked, pausing in his work. 

“Nope. Just keep doin’ what yer doin’” 

Starscream looked at him curiously, hesitating before getting back to work. Wheeljack almost sighed with relief. 

“There you go,” Starscream grunted, sitting back up. One of his hands fell flat against Wheeljack's chest for a moment to steady himself as he sat back up. Once fully upright Starscream withdrew the washcloth and pressed the tape into a neat little ball. He grabbed the other piles from the table and crumbled all the remains up into a ball. 

“I think you should go,” Wheeljack blurted out. Starscream seemed to jump at this. He looked at Wheeljack with big round optics for a moment, a quirk of a frown at the edge of his lip. “wha-” he faltered in his speech a moment before regaining his composure and replacing the sullen confusion with something much more stoic. Starscream cleared his throat. “I'll leave after you've had your next dose,” he said flippantly, flicking a dismissive hand. 

“No, I think you should go, really-” Wheeljack insisted, forcing his muscles to make him move. Heavy limbs we're reluctant to let him haul himself from the couch, but he forced them too. Sore joints screamed at him to stop moving but Wheeljack kept on keeping on. “honestly,” he continued. “I'm just takin’ up time. Look, I can walk for myself and everything,” he leaned down and took Starscream by the wrist. Starscream immediately pulled himself from the grip with a scowl. “don't touch me,” he muttered. “what's gotten into you?” 

“I just think it would be better of you left, and as much as you're the Ruler of Cybertron it's still my house.” 

Starscream stood. He almost looked offended. There was a different emotion there, though, one hidden behind his optics. 

“Fine,” he sighed trying not to sound as disappointed as he looked. “but don't blame me when you go toppling over. I tried to help.” 

Starscream shimmed out from behind the table and wandered over to the door. “are you sure?” He asked, turning around before he reached the door. “it's just another couple hours before the next dose.” 

“I'm sure,” Wheeljack assured, stepping beside Starscream. He was about to put his hand on the seekers back but stopped himself. “I'll be fine I promise.” 

“You really shouldn't make promises.” 

Wheeljack opened the door and stood before it as Starscream walked out, keeping him from coming back in. Before he was all the way through he turned back around. “You remember the dosage, right?” 

“Two drops, three hours. I got it.” 

Starscream almost looked like he was about to go but turned back around again. “I think I may have left a datapad in your room.” 

“If you did I'll bring it to you.” 

“Just let me check.” Starscream insisted, brushing past Wheeljack and strutting back into the house. Wheeljack sighed, hanging his head. Apparently getting rid of Starscream would be harder than he’d originally hoped. 

Starscream found no datapad by the time Wheeljack wandered in. “I must have been mistaken,” he admitted, drawing a sharp digits across his bottom lip. “they're all in my subspace.” 

“Funny that you didn't check first,” Wheeljack mumbled to himself. Despite having not found anything Starscream remained where he stood, pinching his lip in thought. Wheeljack assumed he was looking for another excuse to stay. Wheeljack determined that maybe a different approach was necessary. 

“Starscream,” he called, drawing Starscream's attention. “do you want to stay?” 

Starscream could only stare at him for a moment. The gears turned behind his eyes, but the expression never changed. “yes.” He answered bluntly. “I want to stay.” 

“Is that why you've been makin up all the excuses?” 

Starscream smirked, placing a hand on his hip as he sashayed over to where Wheeljack was standing by the door. “You'd like to know, wouldn’t you?” He baited, flipping a sharp finger at Wheeljack as he walked past. “now come on. Sit down before you collapse. I can see you're legs shaking.” 

Wheeljack could only stare on as Starscream wandered past. It took him a few seconds to force his pedes to move. When they did he followed Starscream to the living room and sat down on the couch. 

Once they were both settled Starscream returned to his work. Wheeljack watched the video screen but his thoughts remained elsewhere. If he was being honest with himself he was almost glad Starscream hadn't left. The company was nice. 

Behind his mask Wheeljack smiled. He came to hope that Starscream would stop by more often. 


End file.
